What's Wrong with a £200 Audi A4 That Has Half a Million Miles?

Here's a funny story though. Remember when last December we showed you how the singer Ellie Goulding rushing to help a motorist who was being pushed sideways across two lanes by a truck? Well, it turns out CT cameraman Jack Joy was driving that car. His beloved Golf GTI was in the shop after that, and he thus needed a spare car, which is how they ended up with this old Audi A4.

Now, this isn't the first mileage hero Car Throttle has bought. Every fan of the show probably remembers Miles, the Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI, which was fully restored. Something tells us that the Audi A4 won't get the same treatment.

Anyway, some people swear by the reliability of these older A4 models. This one is about two decades old and has done 540,000 miles, which is equivalent to going to the moon and almost coming back, or 22 times around the world. You'd need to spend the equivalent of 450 days behind the wheel to do that at 50 mph, and it shows in the condition of the interior. However, we're more interested in how the drivetrain and chassis held up.

The brakes are in relatively good shape, though the pads and discs have obviously been changed a few times. The rear springs need replacing, but we've seen cracked one on near-new cars. Shockingly, the A4 has got barely any rust underneath. It's slightly rusty, but the original exhaust is still on the car. Mine's just as bad on a six-year-old car.

As for the engine, the EGR is super-dirty and leaking, the air conditioning is gone and the accessories require some attention. So, it's in acceptable condition for a loyal old dog, but fixing everything would cost about £1,500.